TEHRAN—The Second Cultural-Artistic Tazieh Mourning Ritual will be held in Kheyrabad village in Semnan county, Semnan province, announced the tourism chief of the province.

Samaneh Soltanipour added that the event will be held in form of creating works in various fields of handicrafts, ISNA reported.

She stated that those interested in participating in this event can send their works until August 14.

Soltanipour added that August 17 is the deadline for receiving the original works and final review of the works by the Secretariat of the Symposium on the Story of the Passion of Love to the address of Semnan City, Kheyrabad village, Imam Square, Kheyrabad Handicraft House and final review of the works.

According to the Public Relations Department of Semnan Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Department, she said the works in this event will be judged by Professor Seyyed Mahmoud Eftekhari, Dr. Mehdi Emraei and Dr. Ehsan Arman.

She reminded that the closing ceremony of this mourning event will be held at the Handicrafts House in Kheyrabad Village on August 20.  

Meanwhile, Head of Damghan Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Department announced the holding of the traditional Tazieh ritual on the nights of Safar with the enthusiastic presence of the people and lovers of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS).

Mojtaba Akbarpour said that Tazieh mourning ceremony, with the performance of Tazieh ceremonies for the martyrdom of Hazrat Ali Akbar (AS), Hazrat Abbas (AS) and Imam Hussein (AS), was held in the public spaces of Damghan on the nights of Safar with the enthusiastic reception of the noble people of Damghan.

He added that this traditional and artistic ritual is an important step towards the revival and introduction of the precious art of Tazieh, which has been registered as Iran's Spiritual Heritage on the UNESCO World Heritage List and has always had a special place in the ritual culture of Damghan.

Referring to the enthusiastic attendance of the people at the ceremony, he stated that the extraordinary reception of the people to the mourning ceremony shows their deep love for the Ahlul Bayt (AS), and this widespread attendance doubles the responsibility of the organizers to plan more carefully and perform this ritual more magnificently in the coming years.

Akbarpour considered the interaction and empathy of the various Tazieh performing groups in Damghan county to be among the important achievements of this mourning ceremony and stated that this valuable cooperation plays an effective role in introducing Tazieh to the younger generation and promoting the ritual style of Tazieh of Damghan among those interested in this noble art.

Referring to the factors behind the event, he said the mourning ceremony and traditional Tazieh ritual were held in Damghan by the Damghan Tazieh Center and with the support and cooperation of the Damghan Municipality and Islamic Council, and Semnan Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Department. 

Tazieh in Iran designates a traditional religious theatrical genre, essentially commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Hossein (AS) and the passions of the Ahlulbeyt (members of the family of the Prophet of Islam). In this theatrical genre, the recitation of the lyrics, which are almost always in verse, takes precedence over the directing and the action.

Registered on UNESCO’s List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010, Tazieh is a kind of drama that recounts the brave war and martyrdom of the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and other incidents that occurred on Ashura, the day Imam Hussein (AS) and his 72 companions were martyred by the oppressive Umayyad dynasty in 680 CE. Tazieh performance began during the Safavid era (1501-1736) and flourished during the Qajar era (1794-1925).

Tazieh presents religious events, historical and mythical stories and folk tales. Each performance has four components of poetry, music, song and motion.

KD